AFT Local 5151

Members of affiliated unions have for years engaged in grassroots community and faith-based efforts to tackle discrimination, poverty and inequality where they work and live. Several local social justice organizations allied with AFT Connecticut have begun coordinating state activities in the "Poor People's Campaign (PPC): A National Call for Moral Revival." State federation leaders last month took steps to be part of this movement, rooted in the unfinished work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Following years of advocacy, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in 2014 adopted rules to streamline union elections for working people in the private sector. The reform now faces significant risk from the Trump Administration's appointees to the federal agency overseeing the nation's employment laws. In response, the labor movement in Connecticut is escalating efforts to assure a harassment-free process for workers seeking a stronger voice on the job.

The planning process for any group can seem a bit like sausage-making. Without a roadmap, however, it is impossible to move forward when faced with escalating challenges on multiple fronts, from Hartford to Washington and in local communities across Connecticut. That's precisely why state federation leaders last summer embarked on a comprehensive effort to develop a strategic plan to build a more active and engaged "union of professionals" in 2018.

One in every 15 Americans depends on their locally-based community health centers (CHCs), which in 1965 began providing primary care to underserved populations. Each is staffed by a team of medical, dental and behavioral professionals critical to their region's healthcare network and who deliver high quality, cost effective services. During the annual recognition of CHCs, we're showcasing a union member who plays an important role in assuring her community's good health.

Hartford - Medical and dental assistants at the federally qualified health center (FQHC) that serves the capitol region yesterday voted for collective bargaining representation in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)-supervised election. The employees cast their ballots three weeks after a majority of the unit sought voluntary recognition of their free choice to form a union from Community Health Services, Inc. (CHS).

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Our national union is taking action to hold the federal education department and its contracted private servicers accountable to student loan borrowers. Click here to share your story of being subjected to predatory, fraudulent activities and of struggling with the burden of debt.